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Title | Date added | Template | Original document | Paragraph text | Body | Document type | Thematics | Topic(s) | Person(s) affected | Year |
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Minorities and discrimination based on caste and analogous systems of inherited status 2016, para. 137 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | States should extend invitations to special procedure mandate holders to assess the situation of caste-affected communities in their respective countries and request their assistance for technical cooperation. | Special Rapporteur on minority issues | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2016 | ||
Minorities in situations of humanitarian crises 2016, para. 52 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Even outside fully fledged armed conflicts, discrimination against minority groups in societies may reach such levels that it results in hate-based crimes and leads to internal displacement. In Myanmar, violence and atrocities committed against the Rohingya, coupled with the Government's refusal to recognize their status as an ethnic minority, and denial of their citizenship, has been and is still pushing the Rohingya to flee to other parts of the country or abroad. | Special Rapporteur on minority issues | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2016 | ||
Minorities in situations of humanitarian crises 2016, para. 93 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Minorities may face particular challenges in the search for durable solutions, which can include returning to places of origin (for internally displaced persons) or voluntary repatriation (for refugees) once crises or disasters have subsided, or alternatively settlement elsewhere in the country (for internally displaced persons) and resettlement to a third State (for refugees) in host communities. | Special Rapporteur on minority issues | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2016 | ||
Minorities in situations of humanitarian crises 2016, para. 70 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Minorities may also be at particular risk of forced return, either in the context of an ongoing humanitarian crisis or once such a crisis is deemed to have ceased. Return always needs to be voluntary, and carried out in safety and dignity in participation and consultation with minorities. Regrettably, the Special Rapporteur has observed with concern examples of minorities forcefully deported back to situations of crises or persecution. | Special Rapporteur on minority issues | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2016 | ||
Minorities and discrimination based on caste and analogous systems of inherited status 2016, para. 79 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Reports indicate that caste-affected communities face discrimination in accessing adequate housing and housing segregation. They may be forced to live on the outskirts of towns, or in segregated colonies or informal settlements, and may also be subject to forced evictions and displacement. | Special Rapporteur on minority issues | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2016 | ||
Minorities in situations of humanitarian crises 2016, para. 62 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Violence against minorities can also be more insidious, as has been evident with the recent migration crisis in Europe. Recent protracted conflicts in the Middle East, and in particular the Syrian Arab Republic, led to mass migration flows to Europe in 2015 and 2016. However, this has also been coupled by certain xenophobic reactions against particular flows of asylum seekers and refugees fleeing crisis, which may in turn lead to more violence and insecurity against them. | Special Rapporteur on minority issues | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2016 | ||
Minorities in situations of humanitarian crises 2016, para. 56 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | On the one hand, the disadvantage experienced by minorities in terms of accessing humanitarian relief in crisis is often explained by existing logistical limitations. In crisis and conflict situations, humanitarian assistance may be concentrated in capital cities and/or in a small number of very large, officially recognized refugee or internally displaced persons camps, with very little reaching the periphery where minority and vulnerable populations may reside. | Special Rapporteur on minority issues | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2016 | ||
Minorities in situations of humanitarian crises 2016, para. 18 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | [In this context the Special Rapporteur on minority issues has decided to dedicate her final report to the General Assembly to this important topic, considering two guiding questions:] Are minorities more likely to be affected by humanitarian crises or by disasters, and therefore experience greater hardship, displacement, or increased need to seek refuge in another country? | Special Rapporteur on minority issues | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2016 | ||
Minorities in situations of humanitarian crises 2016, para. 18 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | [In this context the Special Rapporteur on minority issues has decided to dedicate her final report to the General Assembly to this important topic, considering two guiding questions:] In the context of humanitarian crises or disasters, what are the additional challenges that minorities face when seeking protection, even when the trigger of their displacement or changed situation is not directly linked to their affiliation as members of that minority group? | Special Rapporteur on minority issues | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2016 | ||
Minorities in situations of humanitarian crises 2016, para. 50 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Indeed, displacement of minority communities continued unabated in 2014 and 2015. In Iraq, visited by the Special Rapporteur in February 2016, the Yezidi minority have been targeted on the basis of their identity by the Islamic State, and forced to flee their homes, in particular in Sinjar, Northern Iraq. Other Iraqi minority communities, including Christians, Turkmen, and certain Sunni Arab tribes, have also been particularly exposed to attacks by members of the Islamic State. | Special Rapporteur on minority issues | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2016 | ||
Minorities in situations of humanitarian crises 2016, para. 41 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Finally, UNHCR's Working with National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities and Indigenous Peoples in Forced Displacement (2011) is a very useful tool which acknowledges the potential vulnerabilities of minorities who are displaced, and recognizes that these obstacles may be multiplied during forced displacement and increase protection risks. | Special Rapporteur on minority issues | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2016 | ||
Minorities in the criminal justice system 2015, para. 103 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | States should ensure free professional translation for minority accused who are not fluent in the language used in court, and should allow those persons to use the minority language. States should further consider recognizing the right of members of minorities with significant population or historical ties, whether nationally or locally, to have the proceedings conducted in their own language. | Special Rapporteur on minority issues | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2015 | ||
Rights of linguistic minorities 2013, para. 17 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The following discussion provides an overview of linguistic minority issues globally and the challenges that confront both linguistic minorities and States seeking to manage linguistically diverse societies. The report is based on information provided to the Independent Expert by minorities, Governments, NGOs, academic bodies, United Nations specialized agencies and other stakeholders; information provided in the course of country visits; and statements made to the Forum on Minority Issues. | Special Rapporteur on minority issues | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2013 | ||
Rights of linguistic minorities 2013, para. 38 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | In the following sections, the Independent Expert considers specific concerns relating to linguistic minorities and minority languages. They are not exhaustive and not all issues are present in all regions. They provide an overview of some of the many issues that the Independent Expert intends to consult further on in order to develop her understanding of global concerns and regional trends. | Special Rapporteur on minority issues | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2013 | ||
Minorities in the criminal justice system 2015, para. 62 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | While all former prisoners face stigma and challenges to successful reintegration within society, minorities may have particular difficulty in this regard. States should have specially adapted reintegration plans for vulnerable groups and ensure that laws that permanently deprive convicted persons of the right to vote do not have a disproportionate impact on minority groups. | Special Rapporteur on minority issues | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2015 | ||
The role and activities of national institutional mechanisms in promoting and protecting minority rights 2012, para. 98 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Regional or local sub-offices of human rights institutions and other relevant bodies should be considered, including in areas with concentrated minority communities and in localities where communities may face particular challenges, including violence, conflict or displacement. | Special Rapporteur on minority issues | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2012 | ||
Reflections on the six-year tenure of the Special Rapporteur 2017, para. 39 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Following her thematic study on the rights of linguistic minorities, the Special Rapporteur produced the handbook "Language rights of linguistic minorities: a practical guide for implementation", which is available in all six official languages of the United Nations on the mandate's website. This linguistic guide aims to serve as a practical tool to assist policymakers and right holders to have a better understanding of linguistic rights as well as to provide best practices that could be replicated in different contexts. | Special Rapporteur on minority issues | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2017 | ||
Minorities in situations of humanitarian crises 2016, para. 61 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | In other circumstances, including during internal conflicts, certain minorities' freedom of movement is restricted on account of their identity, owing to perceived threats that they pose. This can lead to a refusal to permit passage to safe areas and restrict access to humanitarian assistance for those individuals because of the community's identity or ethnicity. The Special Rapporteur observed this with regard to internally displaced persons in relation to Sunni Muslims in the Kurdistan region in Iraq (see A/HRC/32/35/Add.1, para. 43). | Special Rapporteur on minority issues | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2016 | ||
Minority rights-based approaches to the protection and promotion of the rights of religious minorities 2013, para. 70 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Religious minorities should consider strategies for constructive resilience in the face of persecution and project a positive role in their rehabilitation as equals in society where possible. This does not absolve States of their responsibility, but can nevertheless precipitate positive social developments in society at large. Indeed, Governments should lead by example by adopting measures, including affirmative action measures where necessary, to ensure that public employers reflect the religious diversity in society. | Special Rapporteur on minority issues | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2013 | ||
Minorities in situations of humanitarian crises 2016, para. 96 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Although the resettlement of refugees to third countries from refugee camps makes up only a very small percentage of all durable solutions, there is also the worrying concern that certain ethnic or national minorities are routinely excluded from such programmes. | Special Rapporteur on minority issues | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2016 | ||
Minorities in situations of humanitarian crises 2016, para. 95 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Local integration and settlement in new communities can be particularly challenging for minorities who are internally displaced persons and refugees, as they need to adapt to new environments, with no support networks, and may be victims of discrimination with host communities. | Special Rapporteur on minority issues | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2016 | ||
Reflections on the six-year tenure of the Special Rapporteur 2017, para. 44 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Additionally, the Special Rapporteur has repeatedly called attention to minority groups that have been in particularly precarious legal situations owing to their lack of citizenship or the refusal of their respective countries to recognize and grant them rights as minorities. She has sent several communications to Member States where discriminatory legislative amendments, immigration reforms and other administrative decisions have placed minority communities at further risk. | Special Rapporteur on minority issues | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2017 | ||
Reflections on the six-year tenure of the Special Rapporteur 2017, para. 58 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The Special Rapporteur wishes to state at the outset that she is of the view that the progress achieved in the last decades in the field of minority rights protection is under threat, and that there is a serious risk that guarantees that have been put in place could be reversed. In recent years, protracted and recent conflicts of various kinds around the globe have led to an unprecedented number of internally displaced persons, migrants and refugees, many of whom belong to minority groups. Increasing hate speech, xenophobic rhetoric and incitement to hatred against minorities have been coupled with the rise of far-right and extremist political parties that are using minorities as scapegoats to divert domestic attention from entrenched and structural problems. Developments in the field of counter-terrorism legislation, discrimination and lack of representation of minorities in governmental structures and within the administration of justice globally have resulted in minorities being increasingly targeted. Widespread attacks against minority individuals and communities, perpetrated with total impunity in different regions, demonstrate the continuing vulnerability faced by minorities around the globe. | Special Rapporteur on minority issues | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2017 | ||
Reflections on the six-year tenure of the Special Rapporteur 2017, para. 94 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The Special Rapporteur is concerned that minorities are often disproportionately affected by statelessness as a result of discriminatory nationality and citizenship legislation that may deny citizenship for some ethnic, linguistic, racial or religious groups or deprive them of citizenship. Today, at least 10 million people around the world are denied a nationality and, although there are no disaggregated data, estimates indicate that many, if not most, of them belong to minority communities. Therefore, she welcomes current United Nations efforts, including the I Belong campaign to end statelessness of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and urges Member States to pledge their full support and cooperation so statelessness can be ended and so that it will not be a further source of stigmatization and discrimination against minorities. | Special Rapporteur on minority issues | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2017 | ||
Reflections on the six-year tenure of the Special Rapporteur 2017, para. 77 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The Special Rapporteur is of the view that given the importance of realizing minority rights as an essential means to prevent tensions and conflict, investment in institutional attention to minority issues is needed more than ever. States should redouble their efforts to institutionalize expertise in minority rights before tensions arise, in order to identify potential problems and implement effective prevention measures. This is important not only for States with significant minority populations and where there is a history of ethnic or religious tensions or conflict, but for all States, owing to the present international migration dynamics whereby new minorities are called upon to coexist with other groups who have been established for a longer time on the territory. | Special Rapporteur on minority issues | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2017 | ||
Reflections on the six-year tenure of the Special Rapporteur 2017, para. 43 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | In her last report to the General Assembly (A/71/254), which focused on minorities in situations of humanitarian crises, the Special Rapporteur discussed in a separate section statelessness as a factor leading to increased vulnerability. She emphasized that minorities were often disproportionately affected by statelessness as a result of discriminatory nationality and citizenship legislation that could deny citizenship to some ethnic, linguistic, racial or religious groups or deprive them of citizenship, or because of discriminatory implementation of nationality laws on similar grounds. Minorities could also be at higher risk of statelessness as a result of lack of access to personal documentation. She emphasized that in times of humanitarian crisis, conflict or natural disaster, such a lack of protection could be particularly acute. Statelessness was often a root cause of forced displacement, particularly in times of crisis. Forced displacement could in turn heighten the risk of becoming stateless, particularly as documents could be lost during flight. | Special Rapporteur on minority issues | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2017 | ||
Reflections on the six-year tenure of the Special Rapporteur 2017, para. 68 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Global migration patterns often drive certain migrants to form more or less compact communities in their host country. States must make concerted efforts to support members of new minorities to integrate into the national labour market, social fabric and collective psyche and to establish guarantees for them to freely practise their language, religion, traditions and culture. Feelings of alienation and lack of belonging, as often experienced by migrants, and feelings of fear and threat, as often experienced by citizens, may induce anti-social and even criminal behaviour, including extremism. Such feelings should be met with proactive diversity programmes helping migrants and citizens to connect and know each other better, and favouring social integration for all. | Special Rapporteur on minority issues | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2017 | ||
Minorities in situations of humanitarian crises 2016, para. 98 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The current global humanitarian context is alarming. Ongoing and protracted conflicts are leading to massive displacement crises: there are unprecedented numbers of refugees and internally displaced persons, and inter-ethnic and interracial tensions and conflict are erupting in nearly every region of the world. Many conflicts threaten to further deteriorate, and new conflicts are emerging. These conflicts are often rooted in power struggles, identity politics, competition for resources, rising income disparities and socioeconomic inequalities, and increasing polarization of societies, making national, ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities particularly vulnerable; indeed many of the persons who flee their countries for fear of persecution are members of minority groups targeted precisely because of their minority identity. Furthermore, with the impact of climate change, disasters are becoming all too frequent and widespread, further affecting minorities. | Special Rapporteur on minority issues | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2016 | ||
Minorities in situations of humanitarian crises 2016, para. 94 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | In terms of return or repatriation, minorities may face particular obstacles, if they fled owing to violence perpetrated against them because of their minority status and the root conditions of that violence have not been resolved. Minorities may also be reluctant or unable to return home where, upon returning to their place of origin or habitual residence they have become even more marginalized because the conflict or disaster has for instance changed the demographics of an area. Furthermore, return or repatriation is often more difficult for those who have no land to return to, which may often be the case for marginalized minorities who may not have security of tenure over their lands. | Special Rapporteur on minority issues | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2016 | ||
Minorities in situations of humanitarian crises 2016, para. 92 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Finally, while internal displacements due to disasters have traditionally been for short periods, their increased frequency and severity, including owing to climate change, point to more chronic situations likely to involve new, more prolonged or definitive displacements - and requiring more comprehensive displacement responses, in particular taking into account the needs of minorities. Moreover, recurrent disasters, such as more frequent flooding for example, can significantly impact the resilience of the people living in disaster-prone areas, including owing to destruction of livelihoods and destruction of homes and basic infrastructure. | Special Rapporteur on minority issues | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2016 |